Patient's tables for X-ray examinations and radiotherapy of the above-mentioned type are known, which are rotatable about a vertical axis and can also be slid longitudinally and transversely to the couch surface. These tables are also adjustable vertically.
In these prior tables, the mechanisms for providing sliding mobility of the couch surface of the table were not vertically compact, particularly those which provided longitudinal sliding far beyond a column supporting the couch surface. Accordingly, these prior designs necessitated substantial thickness and/or height in the frames of the tables. Because of their extra thicknesses, these tables could be collapsed vertically only to a limited extent.
Another disadvantage of the known tables is that they provided insufficient stability when the couch surface was extended to its extreme positions, that is to say fully extended relative to the supporting column.